Legislation
Congressional Bill to Get Artists & Labels Paid for Radio Airplay Clears Critical House Vote
The American Music Fairness Act (AMFA), which would require AM/FM stations to pay performance royalties to music creators and copyright holders for radio airplay in the U.S., just cleared a key hurdle in Congress — though the bill is unlikely to pass before the new session of Congress convenes in January. In a mark-up session on Wednesday (Dec. 7), the House Judiciary Committee (which deals with copyright matters) voted to advance the bill, clearing its way for a full vote on the House floor. To become law, the bill would need to be approved by the full House of Representatives as well as the Senate and then signed into law by President Biden. However, the proposed legislation is unlikely to pass in the current session of Congress, which is drawing to a close at the end of the month, unles...
American CryptoFed registration at risk as SEC alleges filing anomalies
Disclaimer: The article has been updated based on an official response from American CryptoFed DAO. COO Xiaomeng Zhou explained why the SEC is not legally allowed to issue a stop order. American CryptoFed DAO, the first decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) to get legal recognition in the United States, is at risk of losing its registration after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) dug up anomalies in the Form S-1 registration statement dated Sept. 17, 2021. The Wyoming Secretary of State’s office recognized American CryptoFed as a legal entity in July 2021, at a time when the organization’s CEO, Marian Orr, believed that “Wyoming is arguably the top blockchain jurisdiction in the world.” However, on Nov. 18, 2022, the SEC instituted administrative proceedings...
US Sen. Warren and Durbin demand answers from Bankman-Fried and his successor at FTX
United States Senators Elizabeth Warren and Richard Durbin wrote to the former and current CEOs of FTX — Sam Bankman-Fried and John Jay Ray III, respectively — on Nov. 16 to ask for more information on the collapse of the cryptocurrency exchange. They made 13 requests for documents, lists and answers. “The public is owed a complete and transparent accounting of the business practices and financial activities leading up to and following FTX’s collapse,” the lawmakers wrote. They provided a summary of the major press coverage of the unfolding events and reconstructed a timeline from the media sources. Noting “the apparent lack of due diligence by venture capital and other big investment funds eager to get rich off crypto” among the issues they identified, they wrote: “These developments just...
SBF: FTX to filter assets it thinks are securities from US listings until registration in place
Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) has written a set of suggested standards for the crypto industry “while waiting for full federal regulatory regimes,” which were posted on the FTX Policy blog on Oct. 19. The post covers many of the questions facing regulators and operators, with specific reference to the United States at points. In particular, SBF outlined a plan for treating assets in the U.S. in regard to their status as securities or commodities. FTX will implement his plan, SBF wrote. In the United States, SBF wrote, the FTX legal team will analyze assets using the Howey test, case law and guidance to determine whether an asset is a security or commodity. Non-security assets will be classed as commodities by default. Moreover: “If we do find an asset to potentially be a security, we will not li...
Rep. McHenry gives progress report on stablecoin legislation, says it’s an ‘ugly baby’
Patrick McHenry, ranking member of the United States House of Representatives Financial Services Committee, thinks the “conversation has become unmoored” regarding financial technology and needs to return to solving real-world problems. He is currently in talks over legislation that may at least bring more clarity to stablecoins. Currently, there is no U.S. federal definition of digital assets or stablecoins, McHenry said, calling the situation “retrograde.” McHenry, House Financial Services Committee Chair Maxine Waters and the Treasury Department have been in negotiations for months on legislation to regulate stablecoins “in an election year, in a divided Washington.” He spoke positively about the bipartisan nature of the legislation taking shape and tradeoffs that have been made between...
US senator bill seeks to cushion crypto exchanges from SEC enforcement actions
United States Senator Bill Hagerty, a member of the Senate Banking Committee, introduced legislation seeking a safe harbor for cryptocurrency exchanges from “certain” Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) enforcement actions. The Digital Trading Clarity Act of 2022, introduced by Sen. Hagerty, aims to provide regulatory clarity around two primary concerns plaguing crypto exchange establishments — (i) the classification of digital assets and (ii) related liabilities under existing securities laws. A bill to provide digital asset intermediaries with a safe harbor from certain enforcement actions by the Securities and Exchange Commission, and for other purposes. Source: congress.gov Sen. Hagerty outlined an overview of the problems amid regulatory hurdles: “The current lack of regulatory c...
Senators Stabenow, Boozman introduce crypto bill that extends CFTC’s regulatory powers
United States Senate Agriculture Committee chair Debbie Stabenow and ranking member John Boozman introduced the Digital Commodities Consumer Protection Act bill on Wednesday. The bill has been expected for several months. Like the Digital Commodities Exchange Act (DCEA) introduced into the House of Representatives by members of the House Agriculture Committee in April, the new bill enlarges the role of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The new bill is not the companion to the DCEA, however. According to the summary, the bill’s definition of digital commodities “includes Bitcoin and Ether and excludes certain financial instruments including securities,” which are regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The bill mandates registration by t...
Florida Rep. Donalds introduces Financial Freedom Act companion bill in the House
Rep. Byron Donalds, a Florida Republican, introduced the Financial Freedom Act into the United States House of Representatives on Friday to prevent the U.S. Department of Labor from limiting the types of investments that can be included in Americans’ self-directed 401(k) retirement plans. The bill is the companion to Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s May 5 Senate bill. The Financial Freedom Act was introduced as a reaction to a U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) compliance report dated March 10 that raised objections to the inclusion of cryptocurrencies in 401(k) retirement plans. That report warned the department’s Employee Benefits Security Administration “expects to conduct an investigative program aimed at plans that offer participant investments in cryptocurrencies and related products, and...
Sen. Lummis teases upcoming crypto bill, says NFTs won’t be included in it
United States Senator Cynthia Lummis appeared on a livestream hosted by Axios on Tuesday to tease the highly awaited bill on cryptocurrency she is authoring. The Wyoming Republican said the bill will be introduced as “one big piece so people can see the big picture” and be broken down into five or six components for consideration by the appropriate congressional committees. The bill, which Lummis is expected to introduce along with New York Democrat Kristin Gillibrand, is designed “so that it works within the traditional framework for managing and regulating traditional assets,” Lummis said. It will divide cryptocurrency oversight between the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Oversight of crypto assets will be given to the SEC “wh...
Sen. Lummis teases upcoming crypto bill, says NFTs won’t be included in it
United States Senator Cynthia Lummis appeared on a livestream hosted by Axios on Tuesday to tease the highly awaited bill on cryptocurrency she is authoring. The Wyoming Republican said the bill will be introduced as “one big piece so people can see the big picture” and be broken down into five or six components for consideration by the appropriate congressional committees. The bill, which Lummis is expected to introduce along with New York Democrat Kristin Gillibrand, is designed “so that it works within the traditional framework for managing and regulating traditional assets,” Lummis said. It will divide cryptocurrency oversight between the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Oversight of crypto assets will be given to the SEC “wh...
Hawaii Senate committees favor task force to regulate crypto, blockchain
Two committees of the Hawaii State Legislature — Commerce and Consumer Protection (CPN) and Ways and Means (WAM) — unanimously approved the launch of a specialized task force to explore the use and regulation of the crypto ecosystem. In a letter addressed to the President of the Hawaii Senate, Ron Kouchi, legislative members Donovan Dela Cruz and Roz Baker wrote in support of creating a “Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Task Force” that was first proposed in bill SB2695. SB2695, titled “A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO CRYPTOCURRENCY,” sought to establish a task force within the Department of Budget and Finance to review and compile country-wide data on crypto and blockchain. The task force would submit findings and potential legislation back to the State Capitol — which involves providing a pla...
Binance.US leaves Blockchain Association to form own DC government affairs team
Binance.US announced today that it is creating a team in Washington to engage with lawmakers on digital asset policy. Simultaneously, it has withdrawn from the advocacy group Blockchain Association. Both organizations sides have been tight-lipped about the split, commenting publicly only with short statements. A Binance.US spokesperson told Cointelegraph, “We believe it’s time we had a clear voice with meaningful impact in the emerging policy debates around digital assets and cryptocurrencies in Washington. We are excited to establish our own Government Affairs team in D.C. to actively engage in direct and constructive dialogue with U.S. policymakers on smart regulation that increases clarity and trust, while allowing American innovation and leadership to flourish in crypto.” Binance found...
